Dear Matilda, how I loves ya And I've found a happy home With a cowshed and a pig sty Full of cows and pigs and that reminds me Darlin', how's your father, how's your mother I hope they're fine you know I send no kisses, I've been eating onions Yours sincerely, Joe

Dear Matilda, how I loves ya And I've found a happy home With a cowshed and a pig stye Full of cows and pigs and that reminds me How's your father? How's your mother? I hope they're fine you know I send no kisses, I've been eating onions Yours sincerely, Joe

Does the following one ring a bell with anyone? (The hits in the forum are just mine, asking away back in the past. It doesn't get hits with "dear matilda" "cowshed" on either google or google-usenet.)

Dear Matilda, how I loves ya And I've found a happy home With a cowshed and a pig sty Full of cows and pigs and that reminds me Darlin', how's your father, how's your mother I hope they're fine you know I send no kisses, I've been eating onions Yours sincerely, Joe

Hit "submit" by mistake there. Also wanted to mention: song is listed as "traditional". Never got nearly this far with this request before. No rush with the lyrics. I will check back *forever* until they appear. :-) Or heck, if all else fails, I can order the CD :-) Thanks guest and Breezy :-)

young joe turneycock, he got an awful shock ,when into love he fell. But he was loved as well How matilda loved his courtin joe put out his chest,went to find, a nest aplace to call his own, And soon Matilda got a letter from , the farmers boy that said

'Dear matilda, how I loves you, and I've found a happy home With a cow shed , and a pigsty, with cows and pigs and that reminds me hows your father, hows your mother? I hope they're well you know I send no kisses I've been eating onions I remain yours forever Joe'

I know the tune cold. I've heard it about twelve times but am embarrassed to admit, I'm just terrible at learning lyrics without repetition at least once a week.

Two weeks ago all the snow went away HOORAY! But it's snowing in little dribs and drabs this week. Great big flakes around 11:00AM. Brushing off the cars two mornings in a row. Can't walk at full speed on the sidewalks again. Rats.

Geese? We have some perma-geese and perma-ducks in a few areas (storm sewer outlets?) that don't seem to freeze. Some people seem to take immense pleasure in feeding them. There's one place by the Ottawa River (Des Chenes Rapids, Ottawa side) where, I estimate, some people spread out at least fifty pounds of feed every day, all winter long. Lots of Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese. Curriously, there aren't any perma-gulls in the area -- I guess they can't withstand the cold as well.

As for real geese. I haven't noticed any. Or robins. But Blue Jays and Cardinals, yep. But then, they might be perma-birds as well.

DEAR MATHILDA This song was given into our keeping by the late Tom Brown, a traditional singer from East Anglia. Having no children to sing his songs, Tom parcelled them out to friends to keep them alive. (Trad. arr. Bedford with additional verse by Brian Bedford) Vocals – Artisan

Breezy, are the lyrics you've posted complete? Your remark "before I go any further" seems to imply there is more.

This is a very odd song to be called "traditional." It doesn't seem to have a regular rhyme scheme or metrical structure (but then, I don't know the song; I only have the posted lyrics to go by). I wonder if it could be an old music hall song?

Check out other thread -- voice shot all to...well, not too awful, but kinda crumby from a mild reguritated stomach acid condition(LPR)...which I *think* seems to be healing but it's going kinda slow...

Still, if I return to song circle two or three months from now with this one under my belt, that'd be sweet.

And hey, Robin, do you already know about the Ottawa Song Circle? Should I add you to their e-mail list? Have I made an utter fool of myself by forgetting that we've been introduced?

Jim, it doesn't sound traditional to me either, reminds me of: My Brother, Sylveste, and either the local singer (who, yes, has refused to write it down, though he otherwise seems like a considerate guy) has utterly changed the pauses or Breezy has put commas into...odd...places. "Went to find, a nest" has NO pause the way I know the song.

Canada Geese are real geese, sure, but when I hear "geese" alone, I think of those giant snow white, orange-billed duck-like things, one or two of which always seem to find their way into urban aquatic bird gatherings.

Personally, I think Breezy just hasn't had a chance to check in with his mate who sings this yet. Anyway, I must away to some chores! Vrooom, vroom...vacuuming is a good background to singing, ain't it?

what mate .I'm waiting on you? you got me reviving this song now. Tell me when your ready for the next lesson or have you got it?

no comma after 'find' my fingers slipped!!

next 2nd verse satrts

'Jo so seldom wrote, that when she got the note' She thought that it must be, A letter from some chinee. Wrote in french and spelt in russian. She tried splitting it, Even tried knitting it, She gave up in dismay, She put it on a gramaphone , and it began to play../..

The weather was fantastic in Ottawa today. Even saw a sleeveless top on one woman and a short skirt on another. Outside! Really! The ice is out of the river except along the edges and the bays. In Russell, just south of Ottawa, on Sunday I saw about 100 Canada Geese and about eight robins (but not all at once). Going down to 4 degrees C tonight (39F). The brass monkeys are safe.

Ya see, I don't believe anything is memorized unless I remember it a few days later. Hence, the "I'll let y'all know Wednesday." But yeah, I think I've memorized verse 2.

Sometimes I apply the "it's not memorized until you've screwed it up in front of an audience" rule. Messing up always seems to cement all the lyrics in place. Unless your audience is your dog, who never seems to care one way or the other whether you got the words right.

I'll test my memory out on my friend, Kathy, but she's seen me in so me in so many much more embarrassing situations that the rule might not hold.

Now Breeze, I wouldn'a said they were memorized if they weren't; I already sang enough today for my throat's condition (see stomach acids) including a couple of times through your verses, and I don't sing in front of mirrors...do other people do that?

Me? I can pick guitar without bar chords well enough. I'd like to play better, but it's hard to learn when I'm mostly interested in singing and I've already far surpassed my original guitar goals. Do I prefer accompanied songs or acca? Well, I can't imagine singing Mr. Bojangles without the guitar. On the other hand, Dear Matilda, The Coal Town Road -- I can't imagine them with guitar. Three Score and Ten -- that one oughta be totally dominated by voice, and although I haven't tried it, and although Gordon Bok accompanies with guitar, I suspect I'm not sophisticated enough to make that one sound better with guitar. So acca again.

Ian Rob? He attended a couple of Christmas parties I attended. He sings really well; adds a lot to a singing party, but I don't know him and didn't talk to him. He and Shelly Posen and Anne Downey have formed a little trio, Finest Kind (they had a main-stage spot at last year's Ottawa Folk Festival). I have two of their CDs and one of Ian's records. All very good...but sadly, I don't play my vinyl as much as I should.

It's definitely an old music hall song. Artisan sang it at Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival a few years ago and Brian Bedford told us all about it in his introduction. We had the pleasure of giving Artisan accomodation for the weekend and, as my partner is a Huddersfield lass, we talked long into the night about the myriad delights of that famous West Yorkshire town. I bought a copy of the CD on the strength of hearing 'Dear Matilda'just once. It's a classic.

I'm like, totally and utterly and frustratingly confused. Can anybody put this whole thing together so we have a unified set of lyrics? And if somebody wants to send me a MIDI to post, I'd like that, too. -Joe Offer- joe@mudcat.org

Young Joe Turnicock, he got an awful shock When into love he fell; but he was loved as well, How Mathilda loved his courting. Joe puffed out his chest, went to find a nest, A place to call his own, And soon Mathilda had a letter from The farmer's boy that said:

(Chorus) Dear Mathilda, how I loves ya, And I've found a happy home, With a cowshed, and a pigstye, Full of cows and pigs, and that reminds me darlin'; Hows your father? How's your mother? I hope they're well, you know. I send no kisses (I've been eatin' onions) I remain yours forever, Joe.

But Joe so seldom wrote that when she got the note, She thought that it must be A letter from some chinee Who wrote in French and spelt in Russian. She tried splittin' it, even tried knittin' it, She gave up in dismay; She put it on the gramophone And it began to play:

(Chorus)

She began to cry; thought she should reply, She'd write to him that day, But he'd forgot to say Where the happy home he'd found was; She was in despair. He'd think she didn't care. It filled her heart with dread. Then in walked Joe, her darling beau, And this is what he said:

Is anybody still interested in learning about " Dear Matilda ? " I've just found your forum, having today looked on the Internet for words of the song myself. I gleaned mine from listening to a recording of the song and wanted to check if I'd got the words right. They vary slightly to what I've been reading in the forum but I was delighted to find the third verse via the forum ( " She began etc. ) which isn't on my record. According to what I've discovered, the song was written by Stanley J. Damerell and Robert Hargreaves. I have it on a 1925 British 78 record on the Edison Bell " Winner " label. It is described simply as a " comic song " on the label. The singer is George Buck, who sings the song with a yokel accent pronouncing the lady's name as " Matilder. " It's really good and a great favourite of mine. If anyone is interested, I can type the lyrics as how they appear on this record. Let me know. By the way, i would be interested to know where the rest of you heard this old song.

My dad used to sing a version that was weighted with slightly more explicit sexual content (playing on the 'how's yer father' sexual reference) The chorus went something like

Dear Mathilda, how I loves ya, And I must say it's a happy home, With a cowshed, and a pigstye, Full of cows, pigs, and that reminds me though; Hows yer father??? ..... Err [performer sideways glance] and yer mother? Oh I do hope we can be alone. I want no kisses (yer taste of onions) I remain yours forever, though ... I've got to go.

I can't remember it exactly but he said it was a music hall favourite - although you can never trust your parents on these things. I guess the point is that the song got popularised to make lots of different cultural references; hence different choruses. I always liked singing it as a kid and never understood the pretty explicit sexual and gender references until I was older.

As a 74 year old I can remwember my Dad singing this song to me when I was little - a music hall song I believe. His version went:

Dear Matilda How I love you And I've bought a happy home With a cowshed, and a pig stye, and that reminds me How's yer father and yer mother? But I must go now you know. I've put no kisses 'cos I've been eating onions. Yours forever, Joe.

I remember this performed in a pantomime in West Wales around 1947 - we kids used to sing it for a while afterwards in the school playground (no telly then!). I didn't know anyone else further afield had heard it!